Winter 2012AIESEC Calgary

Special Thanks

Thanks to our partners: Agrium, AESO, TD, Gran Tierra, Xerox and Bullfrog Energy

       

Special Thanks

Thanks to our partners: Agrium, AESO, TD, Gran Tierra, Xerox and Bullfrog Energy

    President’s MessageAIESEC Calgary

Hey AIESEC! It’s hard to believe that over two years has passed since I stumbled and joined AIESEC. I would have never thought that my impulse decision to get involved would bring me to this position. It’s my greatest honour to have been elected Local Committee President for 2012 – 2013 and I’m more than excited to take on the challenge of bringing AIESEC Calgary to the next level. I joined AIESEC back in 2009 as a member of vTalent Management and my experience has since been a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs but with an undeniable growth through the entire process. I have no regrets for where AIESEC has taken me and I will always know that I stayed because of the people. The people have and will always make the organization and the people are the center of my vision for the upcoming year. I hope to bring a new level of spirit and a stronger sense of passion and motivation to fuel the growth that we have experienced in the past few years. In no way do I believe that I will be a perfect President but I look forward to all of the challenges and to seeing the growth not only in the tangible results, but the growth in each member, regardless of their role in AIESEC. I’m excited to have begun selection of the new Executive Board and I hope that we, as a team, can achieve any goals that we set for ourselves. The executive board has grown by yet another position and I look forward to working with each and every one of them throughout the next year. Together, I believe that we can impact the lives of more people and grow stronger as a whole. Sincerely,

Julie Park

Local Committee President Elect 2012 – 2013

Julie Park

       InternshipsCurrent Interns

As I sat on the bus rolling through Slovakia I was anxiously awaiting my arrival in Banska Bystrica. There I would meet up with two members of their AIESEC chapter and my internship would begin. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience and in the end I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I held an 8 week developmental internship that placed me in a small private elementary school in Slovakia working in the English classroom alongside their normal teacher. My role was to be the native speaker, assist in class, and make English fun. My accommodations were with a family that sent their 9 year old daughter to the same school, we would both get dropped off in the morning and we’d walk into school hand in hand. Living with a local family was one of the experiences I am most thankful for. They welcomed me into their home and treated me as if I was their oldest daughter. By the end I was referring the mother as my “Slovak mama”.

The kids at the school were amazing. They were younger (ages 5-11) so they didn’t know that much English, but in the afternoons when they had free time to play they would grab an English-Slovak dictionary, come sit down beside me and ask me how to pronounce different words. It was interesting being considered as staff at a school when I could only communicate with 3 other teachers.

All in all it was one of the coolest things I’ve done. I learned so much about myself, my skills as a teacher, and the wonderful country of Slovakia. It’s all thanks to AIESEC, nothing would have been the same without them! Not to mention the great AIESECers of Slovakia that welcomed me with open arms. It is an experience I would highly recommend!

Kristin Tritthardt

“I learned so much about myself, my skills

as a teacher, and the wonderful country of

Slovakia. It ’s all thanks to AIESEC...”

Kristin TritthardtSlovakia

   InternshipsCurrent Interns

In mid 2005 MacDonald was about to graduate from his first degree in English philology at a Nigerian university. He had a dream to be a global expert in the education and HR area. However, with little job experience in the professional environment and a few ideas about how to achieve his dream, MacDonald was brainwashed into joining AIESEC. Looking back, MacDonald says “that brainwashing event had a positive impact on not only my career development but also on my life!”

Fast-forward the years into 2011, MacDonald has enjoyed a career development that has seen him obtain a Masters Degree abroad, work and live in 4 continents (Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America); change career paths from education to Human Resource and acquire a network that includes friends from more than 100 countries. According to MacDonald, building a global experience professionally is not easy. It requires determination, meeting the right people, focus and luck. AIESEC provides a platform where one can experience all these elements.

MacDonald believes that there are many student organizations in every campus that do a lot of activities to help studying be less boring for students. However, in his own opinion and experience, only AIESEC offers activities that connect students to:

- what they can become in the future - help them figure out who they are now and what potentials they have that can propel them foward in their careers

MacDonald says he enjoys his current work at Agrium where he works as a HR analyst. For him Agrium is a unique organization because it values growth as an organization and in the people that work for it. This is just one of the many reasons why it a great place to work. This value of growth connects to MacDonald’s value of development. Irrespective of all his experience, MacDonald believes he is still learning and growing professionally. He says “we live and learn everyday and in every situation we find ourselves”.

MacDonald Oguike

MacDonald OguikeCanada

“[AIESEC] had a positive impact on not only my career

development but also on my life!”

       National Conference 2012: MontréalNews

12 AIESEC Calgary members had the opportunity to attend the annual National Congress conference which was held in Montréal during the winter break. They met with over 350 other delegates from all over Canada for five days filled with learning, growing, developing, connecting, cheering, not sleeping, and of course, dancing.

Anyone who has attended a conference can assure you there was much to be taken from the conference, and National Congress 2012 was no exception. Delegates were given the opportunity to collaborate with other members from all over the country and share ideas. The delegates were immersed in five days of sessions providing the members with the knowledge, skill, and training to take back home to bring their LC’s, and AIESEC Canada as a whole, to a whole new level.

Conferences are always filled with unforgettable experiences, and one of them was being able to take part in an election process to elect Derek Vollebregt as the new MCP of Canada!

If National Congress is any indication as to how the rest of the year will turn out for AIESEC Canada, it can definitely be said that 2012 will be a a great year for continued development, growth, and success, all while having fun!

   

AIESEC Quarterly NewsletterOctober 2011

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Sheena ManabatAda WongCarol Chung

Design

Carla RamosAlexandre Ste-MarieJamie Feng

Editor

Annie Gong

UpdatesNews

Congratulations to Allison Flach, Henry Kung, Leanne Ross, Akio Tajiri, Kelley Toews for getting matched to internships. Well done OGX team!

Still don’t know what to do for this summer? Why not go on an AIESEC Exchange? Apply TODAY at exchange.calgary@gmail.com. Deadline is January 29, 2012 at 11:59 P.M.